Why is this News

News Judgement

  • is it important/informative?

  • is it interesting?

  • is it factual?

  • is it fair?

RULE OF EIGHT

  • news values, or factors in news judgement

Rule of Eight News Values: 1. timeliness/immediacy 2. oddity/rarity/novelty 3. proximity 4. prominence/celebrity 5. conflict 6. human interest/emotion 7. consequence/impact 8. currency

Timeliness/Immediacy: news is what’s happening NOW, or at least recently. news stories require immediacy in reporting.

Oddity/Rarity/Novelty: news can be weird. or odd. or something that rarely ever happens.

Proximity: news happens close to home, or close to the heart. the closer the story hits home, the more important the news is. “proximity” is the word journalists use to mean, this happened here.

Prominence/Celebrity: well-known people are talked about. this isn’t just for famous people. some people are well-known just within a certain community.

Conflict: when people fight or disagree.

Human Interest/Emotion: when something or someone makes you laugh or cry or get angry or truly amazes you. these stories tap into the humanity of their subjects and those who read about them by focusing on the feelings they evoke.

Consequence/Impact: some news has a direct impact on people’s lives or consequences for them.

Currency: sometimes it’s news just because a lot of people are talking about it. some stories dominate for an entire day or week, others remain current for a wide range of time. often these stories seem overblown or draw complaints that they aren’t really news.

RULE OF 8 NEWS VALUES

  1. is it timely or immediate? (timeliness)

  2. is it happening nearby? (proximity)

  3. does it affect the readers or viewers, or have some consequence for their lives? (consequence/impact)

  4. is it about someone who is well-known? (prominence/celebrity)

  5. is it odd, rare, weird, a “first” or otherwise outside the ordinary? (oddity/rarity/novelty)

  6. is it about a conflict or disagreement, or the continuation of one? (conflict)

  7. does it tug at the heartstrings? (human interest)

  8. is it something everyone is talking about in social media or other news media? (currency)